Former Nairobi Regional Police Commander Rashid Yakub
Former Nairobi Regional Police Commander Rashid Yakub is the new chairman Firearms Licensing Board.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki named Yakub as the chairman of the powerful board in changes on February 1.
Kindiki in a special gazette notice revoked the appointment of Charles Mukindia as the chairman with immediate effect.
Mukindia will go back to his former station at the National Intelligence Service.
He has been the chairman of the board since November 2018 during which he introduced a number of reforms in the area.
Yakub also served as the director of operations at Kenya Police headquarters, Vigilance House up to December 2022 when he moved to the community policing Directorate.
The board is mandated to establish a digital registry of licensed firearm holders who shall be required to apply for new certificates annually.
The membership of the Firearms Board includes two representatives from the National Police Service, one from the State Law Office, the Kenya Wildlife Service, National Intelligence Service, and the National Focal Point on illicit arms.
The Act tasks the board with certifying the suitability of applications and reassessing the proficiency of firearm holders.
The board keeps a centralized record management system of a firearm, holders, dealers and manufacturers.
The secretariat shall also register civilian firearm holders, dealers and manufacturers of firearms under the Act, register, supervise, and control all shooting ranges that are registered under the law, establish, maintain, and monitor a centralized record management system and perform such other functions as the Cabinet Secretary may prescribe from time to time.
The law says no person shall manufacture, assemble, purchase, acquire, or have in his possession an armored vehicle unless he holds a certificate of approval issued.
Those found with illegal weapons are liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years and not more than 15 years.
Gun holders usually go through a rigorous process before they are issued such a weapon.
There are about 11,000 licensed gun holders in the country.
